INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION

THE SWEDISH SPACE RESEARCH COMMITTEE AND NASA ARRANGED FOR
A MOBILE PULSED LASER RADAR, LOCATED IN SWEDEN, TO BE USED
BEGINNING IN 1967 TO DETERMINE THE HEIGHT, DISTRIBUTION AND
SCATTERING PROPERTIES OF COSMIC DUST AND AEROSOL PARTICLES
DURING THE PRESENCE AND ABSENCE OF NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS.

A. TOPSIDE SOUNDER SATELLITES (ALOUETTES I AND II, EXPLORER XX, AND ISIS I)

THE ALOUETTE SATELLITES USE A SWEPT FREQUENCY SOUNDER
SYSTEM AND EXPLORER XX USED A FIXED FREQUENCY SYSTEM
TO STUDY THE AMOUNT OF, AND VARIATION IN,
IONOSPHERIC ELECTRON DENSITY.

NUMEROUS U.S. AND CANADIAN STATIONS, AND TWENTY-THREE
STATIONS IN FOURTEEN OTHER COUNTRIES, HAVE TAKEN GROUND
SOUNDINGS COORDINATED WITH SATELLITE SOUNDINGS WHICH PERMIT
COMPARISON OF TOP AND BOTTOM-SIDE IONOSPHERIC PROFILES. AT
PRESENT, EIGHT COUNTRIES ARE IN ACTIVE COOPERATION WITH THE
UNITED STATES.

FRANCE, NORWAY, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM ARE STAFFING AND
OPERATING TELEMETRY STATIONS FOR THE ACQUISITION OF DATA FROM
TOPSIDE SOUNDER SATELLITES. JAPAN AND AUSTRALIA ARE ALSO
PARTICIPATING IN DIRECT RECEIPT AND ANALYSIS OF DATA, AND INDIA
IS EXPECTED TO DO SO IN 1970.

NAME

LAUNCH DATE

NOMINAL ORBIT

NASA AND THE FRAUNHOFER INSTITUTE OF FREIBURG, GERMANY, ARE CONDUCTING THREE HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOON
SOUNDINGS USING A HIGH RESOLUTION SOLAR SPECTROTELESCOPE DESIGNED TO GAIN NEW KNOWLEDGE OF FINE
STRUCTURE ELEMENTS OF THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE. NASA-PROVIDED BALLOONS CARRY THE INSTRUMENTS TO AN
ALTITUDE OF ABOUT 80,000 FEET. FLIGHTS WERE CONDUCTED IN NOV, 1966, AND NOV, 1968. THE FINAL FLIGHT
IS SCHEDULED IN 1970. THE U.S. NATIONAL CENTER FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH (NCAR) IS PROVIDING LAUNCHING
SERVICES FROM THE BALLOON FLIGHT STATION, PALESTINE, TEXAS.

UNDER AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN NASA AND THE SWISS COMMITTEE FOR SPACE RESEARCH A BALLOON FLIGHT WAS
MADE IN SEP, 1968 FROM THE NCAR FACILITY AT PALESTINE, TEXAS. THE BALLOON PAYLOAD, DEVELOPED BY THE
OBSERVATORY OF GENEVA, WAS DESIGNED TO STUDY STELLAR NEAR ULTRA-VIOLET RADIATION. THE BALLOON
LIFTED THE 375-POUND PAYLOAD TO AN ALTITUDE OF ABOUT 136,000 FEET.

NASA AND THE MAX-PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR EXTRATERRESTRIAL PHYSICS, MUNICH, GERMANY ARE CONDUCTING A
SERIES OF HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOON SOUNDINGS TO MEASURE THE FLUX OF NEUTRONS OF SOLAR ORIGIN.
NASA-PROVIDED BALLOONS ARE CARRYING LARGE (OVER 1,300 LBS.) GERMAN PAYLOADS TO ALTITUDES OF OVER
100,000 FEET. INSTRUMENTATION CONSISTS OF LARGE SPARK CHAMBERS IN WHICH SCATTERING EVENTS CAN BE
RECORDED. THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL FLIGHT WAS CONDUCTED IN SEPTEMBER 1969. DEPENDING ON RESULTS, TWO
OR THREE ADDITIONAL FLIGHTS ARE PLANNED.

EXPERIMENTERS FROM BELGIUM, ITALY, NETHERLANDS AND SWITZERLAND, JOINED
U.S. SCIENTISTS DURING THE MAY, 1965 ECLIPSE AND EXPERIMENTERS FROM ITALY
JOINED U.S. SCIENTISTS DURING THE NOV, 1966 ECLIPSE IN STUDYING THE
STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION OF THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE SEARCHING FOR FAINT
COMETS IN THE VICINITY OF THE SUN, AND CONDUCTING TEMPERATURE DISTRIBU-
TION STUDIES. FOREIGN AIRBORNE INSTRUMENTS WERE ACCOMMODATED ALONG
WITH U.S. EXPERIMENTS IN THE AIRCRAFT, WHICH FLEW ALONG THE PATHS OF THE
TOTAL ECLIPSES.

EXPERIMENTERS FROM NASA AND THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA
COOPERATED IN A JOINT EXPEDITION BASED AT CHURCHILL RESEARCH RANGE,
CANADA TO INVESTIGATE AURORAL AND POLAR PHENOMENA.

TWO GROUPS OF EXPERIMENTERS FROM CANADA AND ONE FROM FRANCE JOINED
U.S. SCIENTISTS ON A SERIES OF FLIGHTS FROM CHURCHILL RESEARCH RANGE,
CANADA, PRINCIPALLY TO LOOK FOR AURORAE AT MIDDAY IN A REGION WHERE
THE SUN REMAINS BELOW THE HORIZON THROUGHOUT THE DAY. SCIENTISTS
FROM NORWAY AND SWEDEN PARTICIPATED AS OBSERVERS.

NASA AND THE CANADIAN DRB ARE JOINTLY FUNDING A WIND TUNNEL RESEARCH PROJECT TO STUDY THE "AUGMENTOR-WING" CONCEPT, A PROMISING WING CONFIGURATION FOR STOL AIRCRAFT.

NASA AND THE FRENCH NATIONAL OFFICE OF AEROSPACE RESEARCH (ONERA) ARE CONDUCTING A COOPERATIVE
WIND TUNNEL RESEARCH PROGRAM TO TEST TILT ROTORS FOR V/STOL AIRCRAFT. WIND TUNNELS IN THE U.S. AND
FRANCE ARE BEING USED IN CARRYING OUT THE PROJECT.

NASA AND THE GERMAN MINISTRY FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH (BMWF) ARE CARRYING OUT A COOPERATIVE PROJECT
TO STUDY STABILITY CONTROL AND HANDLING QUALITIES OF THE DORNIER DO-31 AIRCRAFT DURING LANDING
TRANSITION AND DESCENT PHASES OF FLIGHT. THE DO-31 IS UNIQUE AS AN ADVANCED JET V/STOL TRANSPORT
AIRCRAFT.

NASA AND THE MINISTRY OF TECHNOLOGY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM HAVE AGREED TO CONDUCT RESEARCH PROJECTS IN THE AREA OF AERONAUTICS. THE FIRST SUCH PROJECT IS ON THE HUNTING-126 AIRCRAFT (JET-FLAP V/STOL), INVOLVING FULL-SCALE WIND TUNNEL TESTS, FOLLOWED BY FLIGHT STUDIES. A COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM HAS BEEN CONDUCTED ALSO ON RUNWAY TIRE TRACTION TESTS ON SELECTED RUNWAY SURFACES IN THE U.K. AND THE U.S.